The present invention relates to a toilet and in particular to a toilet for use in a recreational vehicle or as a portable toilet having a limited water supply necessitating that the water be used efficiently in wetting the toilet bowl during flushing.
In recreational vehicles and portable toilets, relatively small quantities of water are available for use in flushing the toilet. Accordingly it is necessary that the water be used in a highly efficient manner in cleansing the bowl. It has been found that discharging flush water onto a ledge at the upper end of the bowl and allowing the water to flow around the bowl on the ledge is an efficient way to cleanse the bowl. However, it is often difficult to achieve proper wetting of the entire bowl surface, especially the area directly below the flush water nozzle. If the water is discharged onto the ledge with sufficient velocity to flow around the bowl and fall off the ledge to wet the area below the nozzle, an insufficient amount of water will fall off the ledge at the beginning of the water flow path to achieve a complete wetting of the bowl. Likewise, if the water is discharged at a low enough velocity that it immediately begins to fall off the ledge, the water does not have enough velocity to travel around the bowl and wet the area immediately below the flush nozzle.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toilet bowl with a flush nozzle that overcomes the above difficulties and achieves a thorough wetting of the bowl surface.
To accomplish this objective, the toilet of the present invention is equipped with a shield that covers the flush water nozzle and has an end wall that deflects some of the water from its path on the ledge. The shield also has a sidewall which is spaced inwardly of the bowl at a position adjacent the ledge which causes the deflected water to run downward into the bowl, wetting the area beneath the nozzle. The end wall of the shield has a lower end that is spaced above the ledge, forming an open passage below the end wall allowing some of the water from the nozzle to flow onto the ledge. As the water moves on the ledge, it looses its momentum, and as the velocity of the water decreases, the centrifugal force of the water holding it onto the ledge decreases, whereby the water gradually falls off the ledge, around the periphery of the bowl to wet the bowl surface. The water falling off the ledge, combined with the deflected water flowing downward from the shield, substantially wets the entire bowl surface.
The bowl has a bottom discharge opening through which water and waste is flushed from the bowl. A movable closure member is provided for opening and closing the bowl discharge opening. A foot pedal is provided for operation of the closure member to move the closure member to an open position and also to open a flush water supply valve to provide water to the flush nozzle. The foot pedal is coupled by a pull-cable to the closure member and to the flush water valve, both of which are mounted to the toilet housing. To enable flushing of the toilet in the event of a failure of the pull-cable, a rotatable hand lever is provided for flushing the toilet by hand. The pull-cable has one end attached to the foot pedal and the other end attached to the hand lever for rotating the hand lever. The hand lever is in turn coupled to the closure member and the flush water valve to open the bowl discharge opening and to open the flush water valve.
The flush water valve is mounted to the toilet behind the bowl, at the upper end thereof. A removable cover is provided to conceal the valve from view. The cover is preferably attached by snap fasteners. The valve is mounted so that it can be easily removed from the toilet, from above, if necessary for replacement or servicing of the valve. This avoids a complicated removal of the entire toilet from where it is installed and resealing of the toilet for servicing the valve. In the preferred embodiment, the flush water valve is integrally formed with a vacuum breaker.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.